Retired cop taking over mother's bar

Former Schenectady officer wants to run site after lottery case

Published 11:28 pm, Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Old Christy's Inn, 1302 Lower Broadway, in Schenectady, N.Y. April 9, 2012. A retired city police officer is poised to take over the bar from his mother, who has been charged with stealing scratch off tickets from there. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

The Old Christy's Inn, 1302 Lower Broadway, in Schenectady, N.Y....

Schenectady Police Detective John DiGesualdo discusses a cold case with the Times Union at the Schenectady Police Headquarters in Schenectady, New York May 27, 2010. ( Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

SCHENECTADY — A recently retired city cop is taking over Old Christy's Inn from his mother, the bar's proprietor, who has been charged with stealing $100,000 worth of scratch-off lottery tickets that she was licensed to sell.

Donna J. Walsh, a licensed lottery retailer, is accused of scanning an unknown amount of scratch-off tickets between May and June of last year to see if they were winners, said Katie McCutcheon, Schenectady County assistant district attorney. After they are read by a machine, the scratch-offs are voided so they cannot be sold. The New York State Lottery detected the alleged fraud when Walsh did not pay her bill, said Lottery General Counsel Bill Murray. Despite allegedly wracking up $100,000 in charges, Walsh is believed to have only won about $2,000.

It's relatively rare for retailers to be accused of taking tickets for themselves, Murray said.

Walsh, 64, was arrested by State Police in August and arraigned in Schenectady County Court on April 2 on one count of second-degree grand larceny. Walsh's attorney, Steven Kouray, declined to comment about his client, who is believed to be in failing health. Walsh is due back in court in June.

Digesualdo has owned the Christy's Inn building since 2002, and his mother held the liquor license. Police officers are not allowed to have liquor licenses or serve alcohol in New York state, but they can be landlords who rent to bar owners, said William Crowley, spokesman for the State Liquor Authority. Digesualdo retired from the police department in January after more than 20 years on the force, and as a retiree can now run the bar. He also has a real estate company, and owns several other properties in Schenectady. The building at 1302 Lower Broadway has rental apartments above the bar.

On his brief application to the Planning Commission, Digesualdo said he will rename Christy's as Johnny Goo's Clam Shack, and it will be open from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. The brick building sits next to a rail line at the end of Lower Broadway, a once-bustling thoroughfare that General Electric workers traversed on their way to and from the nearby plant.

On Tuesday morning, Digesualdo was behind the wheel of a front-end loader clearing the lot in back of his building. He declined to discuss his new business venture and his mother's case, saying "I don't talk to the press. You twist things around. You want to write something, write something. I'm not helping you."

The planning commission is scheduled to hear his application to operate the business on April 18. He will likely apply for the bar's liquor license, which is set to expire in his mother's name next month.